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Sapporo Snow Festival
February 4 - February 11
The Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり, Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) is held during one week every February in Hokkaido‘s capital Sapporo. It is one of Japan’s most popular winter events.
The Sapporo Snow Festival was started in 1950, when high school students built a few snow statues in Odori Park. It has since developed into a large, commercialized event, featuring spectacular snow and ice sculptures and attracting huge numbers of visitors. The festival is staged on three sites: the Odori Site, Susukino Site and Tsu Dome Site.
The main site is the Odori Site in Sapporo’s centrally located 1.5 kilometer long Odori Park. The festival’s famous large snow sculptures, some measuring more than 25 meters wide and 15 meters high, are exhibited there. They are lit up daily until 22:00. Besides about a dozen large snow sculptures, the Odori Site exhibits more than one hundred smaller snow statues and hosts several concerts and events, many of which use the sculptures as their stage.
A good view over the Odori Site can be enjoyed from the Sapporo TV Tower at the site’s eastern end. The tower has extended hours (8:30 to 22:30) during the festival. Admission to the top observatory costs 1000 yen. A 1500 yen ticket allows for a day visit and a night visit.